The Death Fics
by Echo Smythe
Summary: In each chapter, a different story involving the death of a main character will be told. (Weasleys, Malfoys, Potters...no one is safe from the death fics! Mwahaha!) The rating is for some adult language.
1. Default Chapter

THE DEATH FICS

By Echo Smythe

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the people or places in this story. They were created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. I am simply borrowing them. Please do not sue. I am a poor college student, and I swear I'm not making any money off of this story.

RATING: R for language. Just playing it safe.

BASIC IDEA: Each chapter explores what would happen if a different character died.

Please R/R. Thanks!


	2. Just Fooling Around

JUST FOOLING AROUND 

(See disclaimer in the Author's Note.)

The sky was clear, and it was an ideal day to play Quidditch. The match was Slytherin Vs. Gryffindor, and Gryffindor was winning by three hundred points. Harry Potter had yet to catch even a glimpse of the golden snitch.

            Fred Weasley smacker a bludger away from Harry just in time. "Thanks, Fred!" Harry called. Had Fred been a moment later, his nose might have been broken.

            "All right there, Harry?" George Weasley (twin brother of Fred Weasley) asked, speeding by. Harry nodded. He spotted a bludger coming toward George's head.

            "George!" He shouted, but Harry was too late. George was hit in the head with the bludger. Fred turned around just in time to see his brother falling toward the ground below.

            Harry dived, attempting to catch George, but could not get close enough to his friend. Fred was trying to reach the ground first. He and Harry both landed moments after George hit the ground with a sickening crack. 

            A whistle was blown. Everyone froze. It took everyone a few moments to realize what had happened. The players quickly landed and surrounded George.

            "George, are you alright?" Fred asked. When George did not respond, Fred said, "You're not fooling anyone. Come on, get up. We know you're fine."

            "Fred, stand aside please," Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, said gently. He knew that this was not one of George's pranks. Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse, made her way over to George, who lay limp on the ground in an unnatural position.

            "George!" Ginny Weasley screamed, hurrying toward her brother. Ron Weasley was right behind her, as was Hermione Granger. By now, the entire school was gathering around George.

            "Is he all right?" Hermione asked.

            "'Course he is," Fred insisted before anyone else could speak. "He's just fooling around."

            "Fred," Dumbledore began, "Your brother had a very bad fall." Madam Pomfrey looked up at him, shook her head, and he went on. "I'm afraid that George…did not survive this."

            "No way, he's just fooling around. He's got a harder head than anyone. I should know, I've got the same one," Fred insisted.

            Ginny examined George more closely and began sobbing into Ron's shoulder. Ron could not believe what he was seeing. George was dead. There was no denying it, although Fred seemed determined to do so.

            "Don't cry, Gin," Fred said. "He's just fooling around. He's not really hurt."

            The rest of the game was cancelled. The students were sent to their houses and ordered not to leave. Fred, Ron, and Ginny sat in Dumbledore's office. Harry and Hermione were allowed to stay with them.

            "His head…" Hermione whispered. She had seen George's wounds in detail. She could not get the image out of her mind. She collapsed into Harry's arms. Harry held her, but did not allow himself to react. 

            George Weasley was dead. Harry had seen the bludger coming. He had not warned George in time. He had watched George fall. Harry was in shock. This could not be happening.

            Ginny continued weeping softly into her brother's shoulder. Ron began crying as well, something he rarely allowed himself to do in public. Only Fred remained calm, insisting that George was just fooling around, and that he would be hysterical with laughter when he realized he had fooled all of them. 

            For three days, Fred continued to insist that George was fine. Arthur and Molly Weasley wept for the loss of their son. The entire school turned out for the funeral service. 

            Passionate speeches were given about George's tragically short, but full, life. At the end of the memorial service, Fred jumped up. "Wait!" He shouted. He ran toward the coffin in which his twin brother lay, and stared into his own face, identical down to the last freckle.

            "You finally did it, George!" Fred shouted angrily at his brother's corpse. "You finally did something that I didn't do. I would give anything to be the one in the coffin, George. I would give anything to go back in time and save your life. I would give anything to die instead of you." He began to weep, no longer able to deny the truth. "In a way… In a way, I _did_ die. When you hit the ground, and you died, you took me with you. We're identical twins, George. We do everything together. I don't understand how it is that I'm still alive when you're so clearly not. I don't understand how my heart still beats when your blood runs cold, or how my soul is still here when yours is off somewhere far away." He paused. Softer, he said, "I'll never play another prank so long as I live unless you come back to life. I'll never play another game of Quidditch, not without you. I will live the rest of my life for you, George. Every breath I take will be your breath. Every thing I say will be your words. Every moment I spend on this planet will be spent knowing that half of me is missing." 

            Placing a single red rose on his brother's corpse, Fred Weasley walked away from the coffin and did not look back.


	3. Honor

CHAPTER TWO HONOR 

"Hey, Weasley," Draco Malfoy called to the girl standing at the top of the stairs.

Ginny Weasley ran a hand nervously through her long red hair. She knew that Draco was only calling to her because he had thought of some new way to tease her. She attempted to walk down the stairs, but Draco stepped in front of her. 

"Not so fast, Weasley. Let's have a chat, shall we?" Draco asked.

            "Leave me alone, Draco," Ginny said, annoyance covering her nervousness. "I have to get to class."

            "Ginny Weasley… You know, you might actually be pretty if your father could afford to buy you nicer clothes."

            "Shut up," Ginny warned.

            "I'm sorry, Weasley. Did I hurt your hand-me-down feelings?"

            "Draco, I'm _serious_. Leave me alone!"

            "Who's going to make me, Weasley? Everyone else is in class. It's just you and me." He touched her face with his right hand, running his thumb down her cheek slowly.

            Ginny pushed his hand away quickly. "Get your hands off of me, Draco!"

            "Aw, but this is so much _fun_, Weasley." He ran his tongue through his teeth and raised an eyebrow. Before she could react, he pinned her up against the wall. Draco studied Ginny's face and was pleased to see the fear it showed. 

            "W-what are you going to do to me?" Ginny managed to ask.

            "Whatever I want to," Draco said. Then, realizing he had scared her enough, he added, "Relax, Weasley. I'm not so hard up that I'd rape you or anything. I don't screw low-class Witches." He moved so that she was no longer trapped against the wall. He returned to his position at the top of the stairs, preventing her from getting away.

            Ginny was shaking. "Why are you always such a jerk, Draco?" She asked.

            "It's fun," Draco said with a smirk. "So, Weasley, I heard your daddy's so poor that he's begging for cash on Diagon Alley now."

            "Shut up about my father," Ginny warned.

            "Father? Please, he's no father. He can't even afford to buy his kids their school supplies. Weasley, admit it. Your daddy's just a poor, pathetic loser."

            "I said shut up!" Ginny said, shoving Draco. She was stunned by her own strength as he fell backwards down the stairs. When he landed at the foot of the stairs, he did not move. Ginny froze. Had she hurt him?

            "Draco?" She called softly. She walked cautiously down the stairs. "Draco, are you okay?" He remained motionless. "You're not funny, Draco," she said. He was kidding. He _had_ to be. Any minute, he'd jump and grab her. As Ginny reached Draco, she realized that he was truly hurt. 

            "Oh my God… Oh my God, what did I do?" She asked aloud. Fighting was not allowed. Would she be expelled from Hogwarts? "Draco, come on, _please_ get up." She took his arm and tried to find a pulse. There was none.

            "Oh my God. I killed him!" Ginny panicked. She ran to find help, leaving Draco at the foot of the stairs.

            "Ron! Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening!" Ginny cried as she ran into the Gryffindor common room. It was empty except for Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, who were running late.

            "Ginny, what's wrong?" Ron asked, hurrying over to his sister.

            "Draco," she began, but could say no more. She collapsed into hysterical sobs.

            "What did he do to you?" Ron demanded. "If Malfoy hurt you, Ginny, I swear to God I'll kill him!"

            "You're too late!" Ginny shouted. She tried to catch her breath.

            "What do you mean?" Harry asked.

            "He's already dead."

            "What?" Harry and Ron asked in unison.

            "He was teasing me, and then he started making fun of Dad, and I just… Ron, I… I pushed him… I didn't realize how hard I pushed him until he fell."

            "Where is he?" Harry asked.

            "He's still at the bottom of the stairs."

            "Are you_ sure_ he's dead?"

            "I'm positive."

            "Gin, maybe he's just unconscious," Ron said. 

            "Ron, I _checked_. He doesn't have a pulse." She looked up at her brother, her eyes large and round, and asked, "What am I going to do?"

            "Don't worry, Ginny. We'll think of something," Harry assured her.

            Harry and Ron followed Ginny to the stairs where Draco Malfoy, who was indeed dead, had met his end. It was most unlucky that at that exact moment, Fred and George Weasley happened to walk down the hall.

            "Whoa! What happened to him?" Fred asked.

            And so, once again, Ginny tearfully retold the events. "Way to go, Gin," George said. "I think you finally did something worse than Fred and I ever did…"

            "Mum and Dad are going to flip out, Ginny," Fred added.

            "It's not really a _bad _thing," Ron said. "Malfoy had it coming. Besides, she was defending our father's honor. I'm proud of you, Ginny."

            "Ron, no one deserves to die," Harry said.

            "_Malfoy_ did."

            "What am I going to do? I can't let anyone find out what happened. They'll put me in Azkaban!" Ginny sobbed.

            "Don't cry, Gin. Somehow I doubt they'd put you in Azkaban just because Draco _fell_," Fred said.

            "Yeah, it's not _your_ fault Draco _fell_," George said, mimicking his brother's tone.

            "No one even needs to know that you saw the _fall_," Ron added, catching on.

            "You mean-" Ginny asked.

            "Weasleys stick together, Ginny, and _you_ are a Weasley. We protect our own," Fred said.

            "He's right, you know. No matter what happens, Weasleys stick together," George said.

            "Forever," Ron added. "So we Weasleys won't tell, and Harry here is like an honorary Weasley, so he won't tell either, right Harry?" 

            "Right," Harry said. Although he hated lying, it had been an accident, and Harry could see no point in turning Ginny over to the authorities. "I'll keep your secret, Ginny," he promised.

            "We'd better get back to class, before the professor thinks anything's wrong," Fred said. He dragged George away with him.

            "Don't worry, Ginny. No one needs to know what happened," Ron said.

            Mrs. Norris, beloved cat of Argus Filch, discovered Draco Malfoy's body an hour later and swiftly brought Filch to the scene.  He cursed, and then alerted Albus Dumbledore, as well as the teachers of Hogwarts.

            "This was no accident," Severus Snape spat. "Look what I found." He was kneeling by the corpse. He lifted up a strand of red hair from Draco's hand. "It looks like a Weasley was here." Hermione Granger arrived at the scene as Snape discovered the hair.

            Thinking quickly, before anyone else could see the hair, Hermione subtly transfigured it to match her own. "Professor, the Weasleys have _red_ hair. That hair is _mine_." She walked over to him. "Draco pulled it from my head when he passed me in the hallway."

            Snape stared at the hair, then at the girl. "What have you done? What are you covering up?" He demanded.

            "Severus, perhaps you should sit down for a moment," Minerva McGonagall recommended. "You have had a terrible shock. After all, Draco was from your house." She led him away before he could protest.

            Hermione ran to the Gryffindor common room, where she found the Weasleys and Harry sitting around the fireplace. "Alright, I just lied for one of you," she said calmly. "Which one of you did it?"

            "What?" Came the collective response.

            "Snape found a red hair on Draco Malfoy's dead body. Don't even pretend you didn't know he was dead. Now tell me. Which one of you killed him?"

            Ginny's eyes were wide with terror. "_You_, Ginny?" Hermione asked, stunned. Ginny nodded.

            "What happened?" Ron asked.

            "I lied for her… I transfigured the hair to match mine so that Snape couldn't prove it was one of you."

            "Why did you lie for me?" Ginny asked.

            "Well," Hermione paused. It sounded awful, even to her. "I hated Malfoy. I think you did everyone a favor."

            "Please don't tell anyone, Hermione," Ginny begged.

            "I wouldn't dream of it."

            The incident was never mentioned again, and although Snape insisted that there had been fowl play, Draco's death was ruled an accident.


	4. Heroic

HEROIC 

Neville Longbottom was wandering the halls of Howarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, attempting to remember which staircase led to his quarters. (They had rearranged themselves again.) He stumbled backwards at the sound of someone screaming. It was coming from the Girl's Dormitory.

            "I can't go in there," he said. "I'll get into trouble."

            The screaming grew more intense and Neville knew that someone was in danger. He took a deep breath and debated running for help. 

            "Let _go _of me!" The girl screamed. Neville recognized the voice. It was Hermione Granger.

            Closing his eyes and trying not to think about how much trouble he might get into, Neville threw open the door to the Girl's Dormitory. "Neville!" Hermione shouted.

            Neville opened his eyes and saw that an ogre had Hermione trapped against a wall. The ogre was incredibly ugly and he looked as though he could kill her with one motion. 

            "Neville, get help!" Hermione pleaded.

            Neville froze. He could leave. He could go get help. However, Neville knew that if he left, the ogre would probably kill Hermione before help arrived. Taking a deep breath and praying that he was not making the wrong decision, Neville used his wand to shoot fire at the ogre.

            The ogre let out a cry of rage and ran at Neville, forgetting about Hermione. Neville stepped backwards out of the Girl's Dormitory. The ogre threw himself at Neville, sending them both crashing through the fifth-floor window.

            "Neville!" Hermione screamed. She ran out of Gryffindor Tower as quickly as her feet would allow. When she reached Neville and the ogre, she was relieved to see that Neville was still breathing. The ogre had landed on his head and died.

            "Neville, are you alright?" Hermione asked, kneeling beside her friend.

            "Hermione…" Neville said in a pained whisper. The fall had hurt him badly. 

            "Oh God, I have to get help," Hermione said, about to stand again. 

            Neville grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. "Don't…leave…me…"

            "Neville, I have to get Madam Pomfrey."

            Neville looked up at her, using the small bit of strength he had left to hold back tears. "Tell…my gram…I love her…"

            "Neville, don't talk like that. You're going to be alright."

            "Tell her…Promise."

            Hermione knew that Neville was dying. There was nothing she could do for him except make him feel comforted. "I promise, Neville," she said. Tears welled up in her eyes. "You saved my life. You're a hero, Neville."

A peaceful grin appeared on Neville's face, and then, he was gone. Hermione wept for the loss of her friend. 

When news of Neville's heroic actions spread, most of the school sincerely mourned his passing. A plaque honoring his bravery was placed inside of the Great Hall for all to see, a most fitting tribute for the boy so few had noticed over the years. Dumbledore had made certain that no one would ever forget Neville Longbottom.


End file.
